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(No Model.)

J. R. WILLIAMS.

COMBINED PNDUMATIG HOLDER AND GUTTER.

No. 298,715. Patented May 13, 1884..

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JOHII R. IVILLIAMS, OF NEWARK, NEVJERSEY.

COMBINED PNEUMATIC HOLDER AND CUTTER.

@PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent IVO. 298,715, dated May 13, 183%.

Application led January l5, 1884.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN It. WILLIAMS, of

Newark, county of Essex, and State of NewV Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Combined Pneumatic Holder and Cutter for thin Flexible Materials; and I do hereby declare the following to be a clear and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of the specification. p a

In. making combined pneumatic holders and cutters for light flexible materials the platen which supports the material near the plane of the edge of the cutter has hitherto been provided with perforations, in order to hold the sheet or leaf at many points, and thereby insure adhesion to the platen. This character of holder or sucker has been deemed essential to the proper and effective operation of holding and cutting flimsy or light flexible mate rial.

The object of my invention is to produce a simple and eflicient device for holding and cutting cigar-wrappers, which will perform the desired combined functions of holding and cutting more efliciently than any device for the 'purpose heretofore known to me, or which will perform its purpose in a satisfactory manner, although of cheaper and simpler construction.

In carrying out my invention I have discovered by experiment that I can support near the plane of the cutter a thin sheet of material-such as a leaf of tobaceo-and hold the same in contact with the edge of a cutter, by using a supporting-platen without perforations or air-passages through it, as is usual, provided the cutter surrounds the same in close proximity, without continuous contact, thus leaving a slight space a part or all the way around between it and the cutter. A plane platen or holder will answer a practical purpose, and is obviously of simple and economical construction; but I prefer in practice to provide a series of grooves across or along the top of the platen leading to the space or spaces between the supporting-plate and the cutter, whereby I attain superior holding capacity.

In the drawings, Figure I is a plan of a cutter and an inclosed unperforated platen, with a slight space between the two all the way (No model.)

tion through line e .e of Figs. 2 and 3, showing the cutter with inclosed grooved supportingplaten.

It is obvious that a plane platen might be used with some success with spaces at opposite ends, as shown at Fig. 2. V

A is the cutter or knife, which may be of any desired form; and B is an unperforated platen within and corresponding in general outline with the form of the cutter, and whose outline is in close proximity, but not wholly in contact, with the cutter, as shown, said platen being slightly below the edge of the cutter. The face of the unperforated platen B is preferably grooved, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the grooves leading to a space or to spaces between the platen and cutter at one or more sides of the cutter.

By using an unperforated platen and locating it so as to leave a span between its edges and the wall of the cutter the leaf or material to be cut is held in a better manner than when the ordinary platen is used. For example, if theperforated platen be used, an excess"J of suction will cause the leaf to be drawn 'into the many perforations,'and it would be liable to be ruptured; but by using an unperforated platen too great suction would cause the leaf to be severed along the line of the cutter only, and hence the body of the wrapper would be uninj ured.

C is an air-pump or other suitable device for exhausting or rarefying the air from the space within the cutter. Vith the unperforated grooved platen surrounded by the cutter, as described, the exhaust apparatus to hold the material firmly against the projecting edge of the cutter and upon the face of the platen, whether the material entirely covers the device or not, and by reason of the ribbed or corrugated surface, puckercd or criukled IOO ` devices for cutting cigar-wrappers.

material like tobacco-leaves will be more cor n I pletely drawn or smoothed out than by the plane surface heretofore used in machines or In practice a sheet of material is placed upon the face of the platen across the edge of the projecting cutter, the air is exhausted from within said cutter to hold the material irmly upon it, and then pressure is applied to the material by a roller or other suitable device, and the blank is cut from the leaf or sheet.

I am aware that pneumatic lifters, suckers, or holders for light material are not a new invention, the same having been used in envelope, paper-bag, and other machines; but in all such cases known to me the platen against which the material has been drawn to be lifted or held has been provided with perforations or air-passages through or within the borders of the face of the platen which supports the material. I do not, however, in this application claim a sucker or pneumatic holder alone of any kind or construction; but

What I do claim herein is 1. The combination of an unperforated hold- 25 ing-platen, a cutter surrounding said platen, as shown and described, the platen being so located within the cutter that a space is left between the two, and exhaust mechanism, substantially as described.

2. The combination of an unperforated grooved platen, a cutter inclosing the same, and means for exhausting the air'from between the material to be cut and the upper surface of the grooved platen, the grooves of the plat- 3 5 en leading to a space or spaces between its outer edge and the surrounding cutter, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing 4o witnesses.

JNO. R. WILLIAMS.

Vitnesses:

Trios. S. CRANE, HENRY THEBERATH. 

